The Baghdad Connection
by Jaur
Summary: AU An unexpected character finds Harry Potter by chance and takes the six year old boy away. Years later he returns with a little different perspective on the wizarding world. A rather unusual version of a common theme. Slow paced.
1. The rescue

Autors Notes; (Feel free to skip, just my rant and have no importance on the story)

Welcome to my new story. I'm surprised to let you know that I have started to write a Harry Potter fanfiction story. Surprised because I have never been much of a Potter fan. I have read the books out of boredom and was not very impressed. Some time ago however, I was introduced to some quite interesting fanfiction stories and when I ran into a wall with my prioritized story this idea came to me and to get out of my writers block I started writing. If you are one of the few who have seen my "The art of pain" and liked it I can say that it is still very much active and will be finished. I had a major problem with the next chapter however since my original idea for the plot turned out to be a disappointment and I refuse to post anything even I can tell is crap. Thus I will rewrite the whole chapter. Anyway; This story intends to give a little more realistic perspective on the wizarding world than is found in most fanfiction while, hopefully, still being enjoyable. I have tried to give an explanation to some of the more obvious holes in the logic of the world as presented by Rowling. I have a plotline that have the potential to make this a quite long story but I like feedback to keep it up. If no one likes it I'm likely to drop it. "The art of pain" is my number one priority this is just to keep me busy when I get stuck on that story. A little Ironical since this is already the longer story.  
Oh, and I like to warn you; it is slow paced and will continue being so. If you like fast action packed stories go look somewhere else.

I am proud to present:

**The Baghdad connection**  
_Chapter one; The rescue_

As the moonlight fell through the window Mani Esfahani turned slightly to the side trying to find a more comfortable position. It was almost impossible to sleep on a muggle buss even one of the more luxurious long distance busses and his damn migraine was getting worse. It was ridiculous really, that he had to travel by muggle means but he had his professional pride to consider. As one of the words foremost wardjockeys every ward he constructed had to be perfect, and this client had insisted on total secretsy, thus no trace was allowed that could be followed to the warded area. And all means of magical transportation could be traced if you looked hard enough. No matter that no one in this wretched corner of the world had the skills or that the client probably had apparated in and out a dozen times by now, _he_ was invisible by all magical means. At least the muggles here had somewhat more comfortable means of transport than back home. Not that it mattered really, the vibrations made this even worse than aeroplanes. He really had to get back to his old project of untraceable magical transport but he had so little time for everything. This was the twelfth warding this month and just like the others it wasn't like they needed the skills of a warder like him. They were just too rich and proud and asked for the best without really stopping and asking if they really needed anything other than the standard muggle repelling, fireproofing and anti theft wards. He really should get back to his research, he was sure that the answer lay with the flying carpet, if he could only find the right pattern...

The lights ahead where getting brighter indicating that they were nearing another town. He lifted his head and asked his neighbour a question before going back to his thoughts, Surrey, they were not that far from London then, with luck he would get a few hours sleep at the hotel before leaving for the airport. These missions were just too troublesome, he had more than enough money to retire and focus on his studies but he knew it was a fruitless fantasy. _The Khan_ would ask questions, insisting that he got out, met people and make friends. He would not face that discussion again. If there was just a way to reduce the numbe...

He was immediately awake, that was a ward he passed into just now, and what a ward! It was a wide area detection ward but not one of the usual ones. He smiled for the first time that night and invoked his magesight. He loved a puzzle, and this surely was one. It was an active ward, not just a passive one. He opened his mouth slowly, tasting the magic in the air. It was low intensity, he almost missed it and he was more sensitive than anyone else he met or heard of. That meant that it was undetectable by anyone else. Such low intensity but jet such a wide area... it had to be multiple nodes then, but, no that wasn't right either. I turned his head first one way, then another. It came from one node only, slowly flowing out over the area. He had never heard about anything like it. So weak an intensity should dissipate within a few meters and this had to cover at least... He almost had a stroke right there, he was on a moving buss, and he was still inside the ward. It had to cover kilometres! Eager to learn something new, he was disappointed when he felt himself leaving the ward. Well, well, a new project. Wonderful! He could easily cancel the tickets tomorrow and rent a car. A quick note that something urgent had come up would clear the schedule for a week. That should let him do the initial survey at least. Hmmm, he needed a new identity as well. If the ward belonged to someone who didn't like people poking around he would not be welcome. Better that he left on that plane and came back under another name. Just in the unlikely case that someone was keeping track on him. It was known that he was in England after all. And even if the wizards here where backward barbarians it was no reason to be careless. After all, someone in this backwater had set up that ward. It didn't smell old. And he didn't recognise the style signifying that it would have to be local. Hmmm, it was summer; He could be a French tourist. He still had that old identity he never used on the Lusaka job 20 years ago... No that was to god to use on a short survey like this, he would create a new one, but a French tourist, or Chinese perhaps? No, that would stand out to much, a French who spoke good English but with a slight accent. That would do just fine, he was not familiar enough with the English culture to play the role of a local. He would get a car, start by localize the ward again and get a room just outside. Spend a few days studying it before finding the node. Hmmm, was surrey a place for tourists? He didn't know, a few days of study first then, in the worst case he would have to find another cover. A birdwatcher perhaps, that worked fine in Sweden last year. Or a botanist like in Tasmania -82. He would have to see...

oOoOo

It was three weeks before monsieur Philippe Morelli checked in at the local hotel in Little Whinging. He was an older gentleman with almost totally grey hair only leaving a few strands betraying that it had once been black. He wore a well tailored suit that betrayed some use but was not yet to be considered old. He was all in all the epitome of respectable and yet very friendly to those who approached him. He was happy to explain to those he met at the pub the first evening that he was a photographer and writer working for a respectable publisher in Strasbourg making The Complete Illustrated Guide to the British Islands. It was to be a grand total of 11 volumes that covered every aspect of the country, the people and the nature. And he was there to write the chapter on everyday life in Surrey. Thus he needed to make contact with the locals, hear their stories and take a lot of pictures. If anyone gave him an opening he was delighted to talk about photography. He would be disgusted by the young kids who would show up these days with a new toy and claim to be _photographers_. They didn't know the first thing about the art. With these new _cameras_ you just pointed it in the right direction and pressed a button. It didn't give you an appreciation of the subject. You didn't have to decide what size of diaphragm to use nor the time of the shot. They didn't even understand the difference between different kinds of film. The new cameras even had _automatic focus_. No, true photography didn't happen in a moment. It took time and he was happy to demonstrate on his newly restored Hasselblad 1000F how he measured the light and chose every parameter to achieve perfection.

Over the next week he was seen walking around town at a leisurely pace, taking time to talk to everyone he met and he would stop often to take pictures of everyday streets. Sometimes he would sit at a bench in the park for hours writing in his black notebook. In a very short time he had become the pet of every old lady in the town as he loved to stop by and talk in the day. Telling stories in his wonderful French accent of the wide world where he had been with his work and happily listen to the gossip of the town. They were intrigued that just their town had been chosen for a more in depth coverage as a typical south English town and were disappointed when they learned that the book would be written entirely in French and would not be published for a few years yet as they had not yet begun to cover Ireland, Scotland or Wales and England was only halfway done. He promised to write when it was published though so the local bookstore could take in a few copies. In the evening he would visit one local bar or another and talk to the patrons before retiring at a respectable hour without being visibly intoxicated. When he met Schulz, the director who came in to start up the local branch of a German sales company, he was happy to converse in German about their common interest of the Mosel vineyards. No one even raised an eyebrow when one Sunday afternoon, he walked up the steps of No 4 Privet drive and rung the doorbell.

--

Mani was delighted and intrigued. It was not often he encountered something new and totally unknown that could intrigue him. Of course, he often found _OLD_ things that intrigued him like wards on old temples and tombs. Likewise he occasionally found newer things but they were always from known sources. There were after all a few geniuses in the world that came up with new things now and then. But this... It took him days to recognize the wards for what they were. Blood wards. He didn't even consider it at first because blood wards of that strength would have a clear stench of the sacrifice required to power them. But these wards didn't stink. No trace of the evil normally associated with blood magic could be found. Besides that he had yet to find anything about how the wards were cast. Finding the Node proved simple. He had worried that such a widespread ward without a clear flow of magic from stronger to weaker would be difficult to map but once he was inside the general centre of the ward (he had walked the perimeter the first day) the node blazed like the sun to his mage sight. He was a little disturbed at first that he hadn't noticed it from the bus that time back in June, but after studying the ward and realizing what it was supposed to do he almost started to laugh. It was several wards in one, the first one was an active identifying ward focusing on the intent on whoever entered it. That was what he had felt from the bus. He had approached the ward and it had evaluated his intentions toward whatever it was warding. As he did not even knew of its existence he had then been left alone. Had he matched the parameters of the ward somebody would have been alerted to his presence. He was still unsure of what it would take to trigger the ward but as long as he only cared about the ward and not what it was warding he was safe. The second ward was very rare indeed. It was a wizard repelling ward. Simple and brilliant. It worked just like a wide area muggle repellent ward except that it targeted wizards of course. It started out very weak and grew stronger the closer to the centre one came. And using that strange blood magic that seemed to have an effect so much stronger than the magic indicated it would not be detected before it had taken effect. It only had one weakness; if you had a specific goal and knew it was there you could pass through it without problem. Like him when he was searching for the node. Then came several active defensive wards but once again they were targeted at the _intent_ of the wizard approaching and since he only had intent towards the ward itself it did not affect him in the slightest. It was very ingenious, unless you were able to sense that first ward before the repelling ward got strong enough you would never even know it was there. There was no way to approach unless you knew where you were heading and did not intend anything unwanted toward the warded object. Or if you were a muggle of course. Well today he would finally approach the node. He had walked by several times before. It was a totally unremarkable house in a row of identical houses. Which was remarkable in itself. The _house _was the node. Not the anchor of the node but the node itself. And it was a very boring house. No self-respecting wizard would live like this but if you wanted to hide something from wizards it was perfect. There lived a muggle family in the house which was not very surprising in itself. They were probably totally unsuspecting of the magical properties of their home but it gave him the opportunity to enter the node to learn more.

--

"Yes, what can I help you with?" Petunia looked at a respectable older gentleman in a suit with a pleasant smile on his face. The smile was not the fake one she would expect from a salesman and the suit was not quite as perfect as it would look like if he had come from a religious sect. It was too comfortable.

"Ah, good afternoon, Mrs. Dursley isn't it?" he waited for her to nod, "I hope I am not disturbing. My name is Morelli, Philippe Morelli. I am a writer and photographer and I wondered if you had some time to talk for a moment"

Ah, that explained it; she had heard her neighbours talk about the nice Frenchman but she had not made the connection on the accent alone.

"I am writing about the everyday English lifestyle and I would be delighted to interview a typical English family. And perhaps take a few photos of your lovely home?"

At this Petunia begun to smile, just wait till Vernon heard this, they would be in a book, about normal life. "Of course, please come in, I have heard so much about you these last few days"

--

Well that does it, Mani was officially confused. As he slowly made his way back to the hotel he considered the visit. The woman, Petunia was very much a muggle, and yet she was the source of power for the node. It didn't make sense. She was a mean small-minded woman and a gossip. That he could tell after just that brief meeting. Not one to be trusted with anything important like anything that warranted such a ward. However she was not the only source. He could detect another source being the cupboard under the stairs of all places. Her husband and son were not home so he had acquired permission to return to be able to talk to the whole family. He wondered if they too were sources and if someone had devised a method to use blood without spilling it. It seemed impossible. Living blood could be used to focus some kinds of magic but to receive any kind of power a sacrifice was needed. At least according to every known magical theory. What further confused him was that the wards were failing. Once inside the node it was obvious. The wards where lopsided and swaying like a heavy building on quicksand. And it was the power source that was failing. Who would build such advanced wards on such a feeble ground? Unless of course, the husband and son where needed to keep it stable. That could explain it. But what role could the cupboard play? There were no ward stone, he could sense that. If so, the stone would be the node and not the whole house. And there was a power source under the stairs, not just a focus as would be the case if ambient magic were used... Well, he would just write down his observations for now and wait for his next opportunity. At least it was not boring; an easy explanation would not have been as fun. He smiled as he continued walking.

oOoOo

It was exactly one week later that Mani once again was returning to the hotel but this time he was angry as well as confused. Well at least his questions had been answered. Now he had to consider what to do... He had returned as arranged to meet the whole family and was met at the door by a very fat man he correctly assumed to be the father of the house, but he had hardly gotten inside the door before he got his first shock. He saw the woman from last week, Petunia was her name, roughly shove a small boy into the cupboard under the stairs. It was all he could do to pretend not to notice. Especially since the boy was very obviously both magical and a source for the ward. But was shocked him more was the reaction of the wards when Petunia touched the boy. They flared, and wavered, like they received a massive influx of energy, but that the energy tried to counter the wards... It was then that he realized the nature and purpose of the wards. The house was the node, but the boy was the focus. The wards were constructed to protect the boy! The source of the wards was the relationship between the woman and the boy. Mani stayed in the house for a little less than two hours before he took his leave. While he pretended interest in the daily life of the three family members he met. The only thing he really cared about was that during the whole time they did not mention the wizard boy a single time. The parents talked plenty about the other boy, He was six years old he was informed but already so fat that he was risking heart problems. In the house there were plenty of photos of the fat boy but none of the wizard boy. As he walked the short moment when the woman showed the child into the cupboard played over and over in his mind. There was something he was missing... They were harming the child, that much was evident, that was not a gentle push or an attempt to hide the boy to protect him. Why were the wards not intervening? The wards were supposed to protect the boy... ah, they were muggles, the wards were specifically aligned against wizards, they could kill the boy and the wards would not care... except that they would cease to exist as their focus disappeared. But that still did not explain how the wards were powered. Sure there were magic that were focused on the blood of relatives to for example grant entrance to family vaults and such but the key word was ´focused´. The power came from elsewhere... The closest thing he could think of was the Greek wedding charm where the couple were bound so that they formed a magical family that would include their children, the magic would give the impression of blood magic but truly it was soul magic powered by love...  
That's it! Love, he knew there was something that he was missing. That's why the wards were so much stronger than they should be. It was soul magic, the most elusive magic of them all. And it had been mixed with blood magic to provide focus... risky business that. It could so easily backfire... Wait, that's what was happening! The blood magic was rejecting the soul magic. Thus the wards were failing... Now why? That must be quite some love to power those wards, it should not be failing, the only way would be for the love to die, and such a strong love would not die easily... wait, the wards was based on the relationship between the woman, Petunia, and the child. There was no love there, that much was clear... And if he ever could read people there never had been... So where did the love in the wards come from? And why does the blood magic enter the picture... Suddenly Mani turned pale. Shit, they didn't!

Without a second thought he turned around and walked back towards privet drive. This time however he walked towards the path that went along the back of the houses on the road. As he neared he kept to the shadows and stopped a fair bit away, easily pulling his aura around him and thus avoiding notice. In the back yard of number 4 a small boy was laying on his knees weeding the flowerbeds. Even from this distance Mani could see the bruises on his face and his all too thin body. He settled in and waited, leaning against a tree. Sooner or later he would get confirmation whether he was right or not. It hours later he could see the family dining through the lit window but the boy kept on working. Finally the woman came out and snarled,

"Not finished yet? Well in with you, and don't expect us to feed you after such a poor days work" she grabbed him and roughly showed him towards the door.

Mani let out a breath he had not been aware that he was holding. He was right, oh how he wished that he had been wrong. He slowly turned and walked away. The wards were indeed powered by love towards the boy, but not any love from the woman but from someone else, Love that had forcibly been transferred to the woman using blood magic. It must be a close blood relative for that to work. A parent, sibling or child. A child was unlikely, parent or sibling then. Now what was he to do? Those wards would break totally within months if not weeks. Forced love always turns to resentment, that's why love potions don't work unless there is already strong love to build on. And thus the wards were causing the boy more harm than good. The love was trying to protect, the blood magic was trying to harm and was slowly sapping the strength of the love. When the hate and resentment finally manage to breach the love the result would be spectacular. Of course it would probably kill the boy, or at least severely damage him. And the love must have been so strong to begin with... it still was, but that would not last. He hated it when amateurs messed around with advanced wards. It didn't really matter who the love came from but it would have been a formidable defence against basically anything had it been left alone. If the boy needed protection from wizards then normal protection wards would have been enough and the love would have dealt with the rest but no, someone just had to meddle. And now the boy was losing one of the strongest protections that Mani had ever seen. Well he could not let this go on... He had to do something. Step one was to find out who the boy was and why he had such advanced but flawed wards on him. Since the wards was specifically targeted at wizards and he lived with muggles he would probably get the most using muggle means. Tomorrow it was time for Philippe to do a little searching in the local library, and then he would probably have to access the taxation registry. Once he had the names involved he could search in the magical world.

oOoOo

Five days later Mani was back in Little Whinging. His research had been very enlightening. He was currently staring at the child hero Harry Potter. Celebrated all over western Europe as the saviour of the Wizarding world and he even got a silly epithet; ´the boy who lived´. Apparently Britain had had some trouble with a dark lord some years ago and this child had defeated him. Mani had not been aware of any European dark lord since that Grindewald fellow, but then he, like most of the rest of the world had been rather preoccupied with the Pashai dark lord that had wrought havoc in Afghanistan for a few decades. It was not so strange after all, England was a backwater no one really cared about except perhaps the muggles, Afghanistan had been a centre for wizarding culture and knowledge that shone bright all over the world. Had been! One dark lord and several long wars had shattered that complex joining of more than 50 subcultures and forced most of the magical communities to flee for their lives. The few who remained had closed in on themselves and become almost as isolationistic as the Inca or the Tasmani.

Well he could understand the need to hide young harry away, there were many who wanted to hurt him and to most of the rest of the British wizards he was an icon, a symbol, not a child with a child's needs. That was probably why he was here, someone had tried to hide him away from the public like a treasure to be guarded, but neglected to consider whether the hideaway was a good place for a child to grow up, and ignoring that a child has feelings, as has his guards. Well that would change today. He had spent a day checking the magical government of England and easily established that it was hopelessly corrupt and the chances that anyone would consider the best for the child was minimal. Young Harry had no living relatives except the muggles he currently lived with. His parents chosen guardians in case anything happened to them were either dead, in prison or unsuitable. (One was a werewolf without means of support and the other in a hospital mental ward) Well the Khan had always bothered him that he should start a family and it seems that he would do just that, but not the way the Khan imagined. There was no way that he would leave the child in an abusive environment even if the potentionally lethal problem with the wards was solved.

He waited as the sun set, and smiled as he considered the timing. Today was the boys birthing day. And today, he would be born again into a new family. Mani waited as the sounds from the house slowly settled down and the lights went out. Shortly before midnight he deemed the time to be right. As he walked up to the back door he took up a set of muggle burglary tools and the lock quickly gave way to his skilled fingers. No magic, that was important, he did not want to set off the wards or leave a trace that could be followed. He had not used his magic a single time since he entered England in this disguise and would not do so until they were out of the country and in a well warded area where he could do the spellwork to hide the boy from prying eyes. There was no way that they could follow his magical signature. The only thing they could possibly get was that a wizard with no ill wishes towards the boy had been in the general area. And the French gentleman had left town several days prior, never to return, not that he thought that the muggles would be interrogated. He silently bent down and opened the door to the cupboard. Locked from the outside! He quickly suppressed a growl as he looked into the darkness and saw the green wide open eyes that met his.

With a kind smile he motioned for the boy to be quiet and follow him. He was not really surprised when the boy obediently followed him out the back door without a sound. Once out in the back yard he turned at the boys question:

"who are you?"

Mani smiled. "I have come to take you away. We have to leave now but I promise to tell you everything once we are on our way."

The boy hesitated. "How long will we be gone? If I am not here to make breakfast tomorrow uncle Vernon will be really angry" the child shivered and visibly cringed at the thought.

"You will never come back; I will take you away forever."

The boy slowly looked up hope visible in his eyes "promise?"

Mani nodded "Yes I promise, you will never have to come even close to here if you don't want to". The Smile he got made the last months work more than worth the trouble.

oOoOo

As the two of them left the yard a shrill alarm set of in the headmaster's office at the Hogwarts School of wizardry and witchcraft. Unfortunately there was no one there to hear it as the headmaster was away for his yearly visit to his brother, leaving only the groundkeeper and the caretaker in the school. It was summer after all. Thus it took two days before he noticed the alarm. He quickly apparated to Privet drive only to find nothing amiss. Petunia opened the door when he rang the bell and after some soothing of her feelings he managed to learn that they had woken up the morning two days ago and the boy was gone. The doors were locked from the inside, all windows closed and no trace of anything wrong, except that the boy was not there. He had not taken any clothes or any other things; he just disappeared in his pyjamas. A few quick tests showed that no magic had been used in the area since a small burst of accidental magic two months ago. A quick check with legitimency showed that Petunia told the truth. Back outside he did a search using some of Harrys hair that he had in case of such a situation and found out that the boy was out of range. As he returned to the school he formed a list of who could help him looking for the boy. Harry had to be found! But as the months passed by and nothing new was discovered Albus Dumbledore had to face the fact. On his sixth birthday Harry Potter disappeared from the face of the earth and he did so completely without the aid of magic. More advanced scrying spells continued to show nothing.

oOoOo

Kamal Khan Achaemenēs threw away the report with a curse that had it crumbling in a blast of fire. This was not supposed to happen! The whole idea about the changes was that he should not be bothered by the muggle affairs. Well this war had made him realize how fruitless any such thoughts were. It had seemed so simple when he became Khan a decade earlier. His predecessor had tried to centralize the power like so many before him. The Shah ruled muggle Persia and the Shah did as the Khan told him. However, the muggles didn't want to be ruled. They demonstrated that quite clearly over and over again. At first the old Khan had been content to let the Shah handle the issue, even when he took help from these foreign barbarian muggles to strike down on the attempts the muggles made to rule themselves. It had been a disaster, chaos everywhere. Finally the Khan had been forced to intervene and convince the foreign muggles to withdraw their troops after the matter had settled down somewhat. In doing so he had discovered that these muggles, the English they were called, were ruled in a manner very similar to what they had been trying to strike down in Persia. Democracy they called it, named after the old Greek system. It was ironic really but the old Khan had seen that the English muggles had managed to live very comfortable lives under their system. Thus he convinced the Shah that perhaps it was this lifestyle that his people wanted and started a series of campaigns to 'modernize' Persia. Not that it worked. It took some time but in the end it failed miserably. The muggles showed beyond a doubt that they didn't want any foreign values or ideas forced upon them. They just wanted to rule themselves. As a result they turned very strongly towards the old traditions and violently reacted against anything from the outside.  
That was when he had become the ruler of the Khanate. The muggle affairs had been such a headache and the solution had seemed so simple. Give the muggles what they wanted, let the shah be overthrown and establish this 'democratic' government. His advisors had been shocked. To let go of the muggle power would be to open up to great risks. Everyone remembered how the dark lord Grindewald had used the same democracy to get his toady Hitler to take control over the muggle government to quicken his own ascension. And they had already lost control of the muggles in large parts of the surrounding world after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the west and the rise of this communist empire in the north and had yet to regain control. They had lost much influence in muggle India hundreds of years earlier when the English took control and that doesn't even mention the disaster in Afghanistan. Besides Persia the only muggle holdings left where Persia and a few desert kingdoms to the south. It took some time but finally he made them see that they needed to solve the muggle problem so they could concentrate on the Pashai dark lord. After some discussion they had agreed as long as they left a failsafe to stop the muggles from doing anything too stupid. It had seemed so reasonable. Just put a small group to check any major decisions for foul play and let the muggles handle themselves. To hide the failsafe under the guise of religion had only seemed logical considered how the muggles had turned to their traditional values in the chaos. But no, nothing could just go as it was supposed to. He thought that he had a firm check on the muggle clerics, the mullas, but give them a small smell of power and they had to grab the whole thing. Now they sat like a growing tumour taking control of more and more of the newly formed Iranian government. The ordinary muggles never got much more than the illusion of democracy and now the resentment was growing once again. And like wolves smelling a wounded animal the foreign muggles had wanted part of the spoils. That's how the war started. That the neighbouring Iraq had invaded was bad enough. He had never really had any influence in muggle Iraq. But to make matters worse they had allied themselves with a long list of other muggle governments. Especially these 'americans' were a pain in the ass. They had supplied the Iraqi with something new that was called 'chemical weapons' and now the Iranian muggles were dying by the hundreds of thousands. These weapons were difficult to counter and he didn't really have any influence in how the muggles ran the war. The first attacks had actually managed to wipe out a small magical community. It was like nothing he had seen before, at first it looked like ordinary bombs and missiles but when they exploded it didn't seem very powerful. However these small explosions spread a cloud of something that killed anyone who breathed it. It had taken a hectic month to figure out how to make the wards stop it. Then when he had his back turned the Iranian muggles started something that almost was worse. They sent _children _to war! He had heard about it before but didn't want to believe it. Especially not that his Persians were capable of such a thing! He would not have been so surprised if those western barbarians did it but this was supposed to be a _civilized_ culture!

With a deep sigh he collected himself and turned to look out at the fantastic view over Kūh-e Dinar. The giant mountain always had a soothing effect on him. He was glad that he had decided to come out here to relax after they had finally defeated the Pashai dark lord. Of course, he could not take too much time. They needed to stabilize Afghanistan and see if anything was salvageable of the once so flourishing magical society there. And that looked like it would be quite the task. He did not have time for this second war. A polite cough alerted him to his secretary's presence. He looked up,

"yes?" The man smiled, it could not be anything very bad when Hamed smiled.

"Aqa Mani has returned Khan" A glimmer appeared in the man's eye, indicating that something amused him highly. "And he brought a guest"

Now he was intrigued. His loner of a brother had never willingly socialized outside a very small circle of relatives and scholars. And he knew that none of them would be introduced as just 'a guest' of his brother. Had it been anyone else he would have suspected a political ploy but his brother had taken great lengths to distance himself from politics, he had even abandoned the family name and started to call himself just 'Esfahani'.

"Well, bring them in then."

It couldn't be could it? His brother had finally found himself a woman? He always claimed not to have time for such things but... He stopped as he saw his brother approaching across the courtyard. By his side walked a small child who could not be more than four years old. He was obviously not local, not with that skin tone and he had never seen such bright green eyes as those who peered at him from under the black bangs of his hair.

"Brother, I want you to meet my son."

He should have expected it really but it was a shock none the less. His brother the loner had adopted a child. He frowned at his infuriating brother, why was he speaking English of all things? Then he got it, he wanted the child to understand, he must be from England. That was where his brother had been right? He smiled.

"I'm delighted, welcome to the family young man." He looked up at his brother; "I have been waiting to tell you this for a long time Mani, but; I told you so. You can't ignore life for your studies, sooner or later someone was bound to break your shell. I'm looking forward to getting to know the wonder child that finally succeeded."

Mani just smiled " I expect so I need your approval to give him the family name after all."

For the second time that day he was stunned. "You want to take back the family name?"

Mani just shook his head, "not me, but my son will need its protection." A movement at the corner of his vision indicated that Hamed was still there, ah, food...

"Well we can discuss it later on for now we should just get to know each other, right?" He smiled at the boy "what should I call you?"

The boy had been silent the whole time and didn't answer now either. "We are still discussing that" Mani answered instead as they started walking towards the small dining room. " I think that he should keep a variation of his old name while he wants a completely new one."

oOoOo

The years passed and the summer of 1991 came around. Dumbledore had high hopes on this summer but was badly disappointed. The spells that sent out the Hogwarts acceptance letters where some of the more advanced around but while Harry Potter was confirmed as still on the rolls and thus alive, all attempts to find an address failed utterly. When school started on September first the Hogwarts express left the station one student short. And Dumbledore was worried. Harry was alive, he knew that now, and indications were showing that Voldemort had gained strength and started to stir in his hideaway in Eastern Europe searching for a way to come back to life. A horrid thought made him contact his old friend Flemming but was quickly put at ease, the philosophers stone was safe. Voldemort had not been able to get it when he had all his powers, he would not get it now. But the continuing absence of Harry was maddening. Dumbledore accelerated his search for stronger scrying spells. The school year continued without any bigger problems as did the next. The newspapers stopped writing about Potters absence after a few months of speculations raging from him being dead to receiving special training at secret ministry facilities. Lucius Malfoy had started to stir up some trouble sensing his masters increasing strength, but as Voldemort was still far from England he probably didn't feel the need to press the issue too far. He did manage to get a dark artefact into the school but it was rather easily countered. It was a diary that possessed one of the first year girls, but once he was aware of the problem the headmaster could find the offending book rather easily and break its hold on the girl. The only trouble it had caused was to petrify the caretakers' cat to the students delight. It could not be cured until late spring. The curse on the Defence teachers' position remained and professor Quirrel had to resign due to family issues, his successor professor Lockhart resigned in shame as he was publicly revealed as a fraud.

The spring of 1993 held a nasty surprise for the wizarding world. The wizards had never really cared much about muggle wars, they were a nuisance but not a real threat. Oh, sometimes the wizard wars spread over into the muggle world and the muggle armies were used by one dark lord or another but it was hundreds of years since purely muggle politics last affected the wizards. Thus the shock was great when a small muggle conflict wounded the wizards were it hurt the most; it struck at their children. In January 1993 a northern American country decided that they needed to put force behind their words in a diplomatic conflict in the middle east. A few airplanes lifted and sent their bombs towards the targets. How more than a few of them managed to hit the largest magical school in the world despite its strong wards was a mystery nobody dared to offer an answer to. As the Baghdad Institute of Magic became a bombed out shell, destroying one of the marvels of magical architecture, over seven hundred students died, caught asleep in their dormitories and a little more than six thousand students stood without a school. More than three fourths of them were badly wounded. Most of the faculty were either killed or incapacitated when they tried to stop the inferno from consuming the school. The weeks following the catastrophe showed an example of international cooperation at its best. Hospitals all over the world accepted the wounded students and nursed them back to health. It was discovered that rebuilding the school would take years, especially without a faculty to help and with the demands of total secrecy. The current muggle regime in Mesopotamia was not exactly one that could be made aware of the existence of magic. Thus the students were spread out across the other schools in the region. The other Arabic speaking schools were soon filled to the brim and the rest of the students were sent to whatever schools that could be found where they could handle the language. Beuxbaton received a quite large group and five students were found to speak acceptable English and were sent to Hogwarts when their wounds had healed. Thus September first 1993 found the first transfer students in 124 years entering the Hogwarts express.

Before that however, another shock came to the wizards. This one however hardly spread outside the foggy islands outside the European west coast. For the first time in history a prisoner escaped from Azkaban prison when Sirius Black disappeared from his cell a dark night. The largest manhunt in living memory turned out blank.

Realizing that he was in need of help Headmaster Dumbledore recruited his old pupil and protégé Remus Lupin for the post of defence against the dark arts teacher at Hogwarts. Hoping not only that he would be able to help recapture his old friend Black but also to find Harry Potter before Black did.

oOoOo

**AN/**Well that's it, the first chapter. I hope you like it. I have the second one finished already but it will have to go through my private beta process before I post it. (let it sit for a few days before I reread it)  
I intend to add a short explanation to any new concepts at the end of each chapters but in this first one I don't have much to add. Mani is an ordinary Persian name and Esfahani is a common Persian surname signifying 'from Esfahan'. Kamal is a Persian name signifying 'excellence'. Achaemenēs was a mytical leader of ancient Persia. The first dynasty of Persian emperors claimed him for ancestor. (As in the empire that was conquered by Alexander the Great.) In my story his line continued as rulers of the magical Persia after the fall of the muggle empire.  
The sidestory about the modern history of Iran is more or less correct if you ignore the magical part. I wrote it from memory and didn't check all facts but it should be a fair description on the twentieth century Iran even if I choose the parts that fit my story. There were several attempts to introduce political systems that were more or less democratic during the first half of the century that were brutally crushed by the Shah (the Persian king) with the help of the British army. The shah then tried to modernize the country in the wake of the oil boom and failed miserably which led up to the revolution in -79 when the religious government was introduced. The 80's were dominated by the war with Irak who was closely allied to USA. USA supplied Irak with weapons and didn't even waver in their support when Saddam Hussein started to bomb civilian towns with chemical weapons. As a side interest CIA also supplied Iran with weapons illegally (as in not approved by the US congress) to finance terror attacks in Nicaragua. (the Iran-Contras scandal).  
USA also did bomb Irak in january 1993.  
I will add several more sidestories like this to give my idea of the history of the interactions between the magical and muggle world. I will not come back to modern Middle East history however. That is finished but you can look forward to my take on the Spanish inquisition, Makedonia under Alexander the great, the immigration in north and south America, Sub-Saharan Africa, 19th century Tasmania and the unification of china. Perhaps more.

That will be for later though. Next chapter will be more character development. Harry will return to England and meet well known characters. Any OC I make will be supporting characters and will have limited screen time.

Oh, and please review. I write fanfiction because I want to improve my writing and the best way to do this is to get a lot of feedback. So far I have not found a better way to get this.


	2. The return

After reading one of my few but very welcome reviews (thank you Kalistar) I have redone the formating of the chapter and corrected a spelling error or two. The next chapter is about halfway done. I have had a real life for a change the last few weeks and it looks like it will continue so it can take some time for it to be posted. Without more delay I once again present:

**The Baghdad connection**

--  
_Chapter two; The return_

Morteza Zia FarjAd Hari Esfahani of Klan Achaemenēs was not to proud to admit that when the initial amusement at seeing the spectacular train that looked like it came straight from a museum had worn out he was quite bored. Once again he considered finding the others but he knew that it was a good idea to get to know more people at this new school and that it would be hard if they kept together as a group. It was just so stupid that he would have to get there so damn early. He had been waiting for half an hour by now and there were still no sign of the rest of the students. No wonder, as the train was not due to leave for another hour or so. Showing up on time is all well and good but you could go too far. If he hadn't been forbidden to walk around in muggle London it would not be so bad but sometimes he cursed his father's rules about magical transport. They could not risk that the Ankara plane would be delayed so he had to get up at _four_ to get the portkey to the earlier plane. He returned to his book, they would show up sooner or later.

A burst of laughter woke him from his readings, well about time someone else showed up. As he looked out the window he realized that the platform beginning to fill with people and not only that. A man in a worn coat was sitting in the seat opposite of him. He had not sensed the man entering the compartment and he _never_ let strangers close to him without noticing. The man must have noticed his shock as he chuckled a bit.

"You are a deep reader I see." Zia considered this for a while before he decided upon an honest but not to revealing answer.

"It is an interesting book"

The man looked amused by this. "what is it about?" Zia decided that honesty could not hurt.

"Basic magical theory on the animagus transformation" Now the man looked surprised.

"I thought the theory on animagi was restricted by the ministry. Where did you find a book on it?"

Zia laughed easily "The British ministry only restrict books in English or those that has an English translation. This one was published last year and has not yet spread very far. I'm sure that they will restrict it once they learn of its existence."

Now the man was smiling broadly. "What language is it in?"

"The original is in Arabic but this is the Greek version. The translator added some of his own comments and references so it is actually a lot more comprehensive." Zia looked curiously at the man. He seemed to be close to 40 years old but the lines in his face and his grey hair could easily belong to a much older man. He wondered if he was sick or something.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you? I was given the impression that there should only be students on the train."

The man laughed softly, "Remus Lupin, or Professor Lupin if you believe it. And normally you would be right, but there has been a prison breake recently so just to be on the safe side and to keep the parents from panicking a few professors will ride the train this year for added security." Zia nodded, that made sense.

"What subject do you teach?"

Remus smiled "I teach Defence, but I mustn't keep you from your book, besides I have been a little sick recently and need to get some rest" With that he leaned back towards the wall and closed his eyes.

Now Zia was intrigued. There was no way that the professor would manage to fall asleep on a moving train with students around him. At least he didn't think so. He obviously did not want too much attention and soon the reason for his abrupt ending of the conversation was evident as the door to the compartment opened. A slightly chubby brown-haired boy looked in, glanced at the occupants and turned to speak with someone in the corridor outside.

"I think we can sit here, there is room and a teacher too." He looked back in and asked "You don't mind do you?" Well, he was supposed to get to know some children his own age, might as well start now.

"Not at all, come in." The boy entered with his trunk followed by two girls, one rather tall and whit a big bushy brown hair, the other shorter, with long red hair. He thought that she looked familiar. As they put their trunks away he decided that he could read later, he really should talk to someone.

"Thanks for the company, I'm Zia." The three of them looked surprised. What? Didn't they expect him to talk? The brown-haired boy answered first, a little uncertain.

"I'm Neville" the bushyhaired girl looked somewhat suspicious of all things, what was the problem? "Hermione" well, that was most communicative.

The redheads answer was even shorter but it did gave more information; "Ginny" Ginny! Of course, he smiled. "That would not be Ginny Weasley would it?" he inquired.

"Yes, what about it?" now she seemed irritated. Their reactions really didn't make any sense.

"Bills sister?" he continued. The change from irritation to confusion was immediate. That was obviously not what she had expected.

"How do you know Bill?"

"He is taking a distance program in advanced wardbuilding and has been staying with my family when he attends the weekend seminars the last few years." He smiled "He usually helps me with my summer homework." It was amusing to see how she relaxed at that.

"Zia... wait, Zia Esfahani?"

"That would be the one."

"Why are you here? I thought that you went to school somewhere in the middle east.." Suddenly the boy, Neville, paled.

"Baghdad? You are from the Baghdad school aren't you? Granny said that a few students might come to Hogwarts." By chance Zia caught sight of a small flicker of the eyelids on the man across from him. So, it seems that the professor hadn't caught the connection. You would think that he would notice a new student above first year. Wonder if he is new...

"Yes, there are five of us here." He answered the boy as the train came into motion. Finally!

The other girl, Hermione, looked confused; they all seemed to do that a lot. "Why should Iraqi students come here?"

Zia lifted an eyebrow "Muggleborn?"

She lifted her chin defiantly "What about it?"

Zia chuckled lightly. "Nothing, it's just that Iraq is the muggle name for the area. Wizards call it Mesopotamia. And you really must have been isolated from wizarding news the last six months not to know why BIM students should be looking for new schools."

Neville coughed softly to gain the attention. "You might not have noticed last term since you were, eh, distracted at the time but it was in the news. A muggle war destroyed the magical school in Baghdad." He locked at Zia "I suppose that it will not be rebuilt for a while?"

Zia nodded "it is difficult due to the muggle situation. Both the domestic and foreign muggles keep a very close look after covert activities and it is a big project to reconstruct the school. There is even talk about moving the school permanently. If they can find new teachers of course." The compartment grew silent.

"So.. what year are you in?" He had to smile at Nevilles attempt to steer the discussion to another subject.

"Third, and you?"

"Hermione and I are third years too but Ginny is second year."

"Which electives are you taking?" Hermione seemed to be really interested for the first time since they entered the compartment.

"I'm not sure. The curriculum here is a little different from in Baghdad so I will have to discuss it with the teachers first. I understand that the regular courses will be prioritized and I will be behind in several subjects." Now her eyes really lit up.

"Oh, what are the differences? Does that mean that your pace is slower or have you been studying different things? What are your favourite subjects..." She trailed off as he started laughing. She had not drawn a single breath among the questions. Even her friends were chuckling.

"Calm down, I'll answer what I can. We study arithmancy and runes from first year and have supporting classes in mathematics and languages. Potions is a part of the alchemy course and transfiguration is an optional course starting in fifth year. Both herbology and magical creatures are optional from third. Our history classes are understandably different and my favourite subject is charms. But I'm not sure how that applies here as I have never really studied Latin based magic before." He smiled at the now very excited girl. "I hope that I will be able to test out of the arithmancy class. I should be at what you would call OWL-level or so, but if they won't let me I have to sit through classes. I hope to take runes but I believe it is a work intensive course and I will already need a lot of extra work on my transfiguration and herbology."

"Won't you have it easier in runes if you have already studied it for two years and what do you mean with Latin based? Of course it is Latin based. All magic is!" this really was a difference from when she first entered the compartment. There almost seemed to be a glow around her as she got into talk about studies.

"I checked the course outline in runes" he answered "and until we start on Greek runes in sixth year there is no overlap. This year it is all Norse and Gaelic runes which I have never studied. And for La..."

He was interrupted as the door to the compartment opened and a tall dark haired boy stepped in. He cast a glance around the compartment before nodding politely to Zia.

"Zia, I'm surprised. Frona told me that you were here too but I didn't believe her. Why have you never told me that you speak English?" Well, this was the first real surprise today.

"Zabini. I didn't expect you here. After all you never told me that _you_ speak English. I would expect you to attend school in Venice or perhaps Beauxbâtons?" Zia raised an eyebrow at the new boy who just stared at him for a moment before he begun laughing.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked looking pointedly at the last open seat.

"Be my guest." The other students in the compartment looked uneasy but he could not throw out an old friend.

"You know my new friends I suppose?" Let's see what the problem was." Blaise Zabini nodded politely, that boy was always polite.

"We have met. Granger, Longbottom, Weasley." They answered with uncertain nods.

Before they had time to interact further the compartment door opened once again. This time it was a short boy with blond face and what looked like an attempt of an arrogant sneer plastered on his face. Behind him two much larger boys could be seen but they kept too the background and let the short blonde take the lead.

"So this is where the trash has been hiding. Didn't you think that you would be found or did you think that your shame would be forgotten?" He glared around the compartment and did a double take at the sight of the teacher but sneered at his ragged clothes. "Trying to hide behind the legs of a teacher were you?"

Now it seemed like he was starting to get enraged. It was time to do something. "Nice to meet you too. How encouraging to see that the way of courtesy and manners remains strong even here in England."

The boy turned towards Zia and sneered, he seemed to do that a lot. "And who are _you_?"

"Hrm.. Malfoy." The blond snapped around. Zia would not have believed him capable of moving that fast.

"_Zabini!_ What are _you_ doing with the trash?" Had he truly not seen him from the beginning? The dark haired boy just smiled

"May I introduce you to my old friend Zia... strange you know, I don't think I have ever heard your family name?" Zia just smiled but Ginny supplied an answer

"Esfahani"

Zabini continued without losing a beat. "Zia Esfahani. We have met at the Olympus moot the last few years."

At this the boys eyes seemed to bugger out of his head perhaps he should add something little. "But _you_ may call me Mort" Zia said with an innocent smile. The boy, Malfoy just turned around and stormed out of the compartment which, a moment later, was filled with laughter.

"That was priceless" Ginny exclaimed. "I have never seen Malfoy deflate like that."

"Yes but what triggered it? I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary in that." Hermione put in.

"The Olympus moot" Neville answered.

"What is that?" Everyone in the compartment except Hermione and the professor who still feigned sleep just stared at Ginny.

"What?" she seemed confused again.

"You grew up in the magical world and you have never heard of the Olympus moot?" Neville asked incredulously. Then he settled down and started to explain. "You know how Malfoy boasts about the New Year's party his father hosts every year and that everyone who is something in Britain attends?" The girls nodded. "Well, the Olympus started out like something similar for the Hellenistic world. Except that in this case it really was the truth. Dumbledore never attended the Malfoy party for example, and he certainly is someone."

Now Zabini took over the explanation "The last few century's however the Olympus moot have grown and is now THE social gathering in the world. Everyone of political or economical significance in the world is there. Well outside of China at least." He snorted, "And Malfoy has never gotten an invitation."

"Actually, I think that the only Brittish wizard who have attended the last hundred years or so is Dumbledore who showed up the year after he defeated Grindewald." Zia added.

"Strange, it sounds like just the thing that Fudge would love." Ginny said and frowned.

"Who?"

Zabini chuckled at his ignorance "The British minister of magic."

"Ah, well as he said; anyone of importance. Ruling a minor district out of the way at the edge of the world hardly qualifies." The girls looked torn between being affronted at the insult at their home country or gleeful at the slight at the incompetent minister. Neville just smiled sadly. He was not surprised apparently.

"So what got you two qualified?"

Zabini frowned, "My father runs a business network in the Mediterranean that gets my family invited. But I'm not sure about Zia, I always assumed that your family connections got you in but if you are Esfahani then..."

"Esfahani is my father's chosen name" It was fun to read his reactions, this time the eyes just widened slightly.

"Then why.."

"You are a third year too right? Then I believe you will get your answer soon enough." Zia had always liked being mysterious. Zabini took the hint and changed the topic

"You seemed to take to Malfoy right away. I have never heard you introduce yourself as Mort so soon after meeting someone."

Zani just chuckled "He got on my nerves"

Hermione frowned "Death, why do you call yourself that?"

Now Zia started to laugh "Latin based indeed. Actually it is short for Morteza and I have been called that since I was little. A couple of years ago an Italian twit thought that I was threatening him and started some trouble about it. It took a while to figure out what he thought it meant. I have introduced myself like that to people that I dislike ever since." He turned to Zabini "Malfoy is a local hotshot I take it?"

"Well, yes. His family is quite influential with the British minister of magic. The Malfoy have traditionally had some influence in France as well but their current lord lost all that when he supported the last dark lord. He is trying to rebuild by forming contacts in Germany and Russia but it is slow going. Draco, that's the one you just met, have an unproportionally big profile in Hogwarts since his father is on the board of governors and his godfather is the potions teacher and they practice some quite blatant nepotism."

Zia nodded "About what I figured, I have heard that the ministry over here is quite corrupt."

Zabini seemed to hesitate a moment and glanced at the other students before speaking again. "One thing you should be aware of. You know about the houses and sorting at Hogwarts?" Houses? Wasn't the school a castle?

"No, Why?"

"Well, when you arrive at school you will be sorted into one of four houses and will take classes with your housemates for the rest of your time there. What house you are sorted in will be quite important really. I would not bother to tell you this normally. You are a Ravenclaw if I ever saw one but just in case; stay out of Slytherin." Now Zia was getting intrigued again. From the reactions of the other students they had not expected this.

"Supposedly it is the house of the cunning" Zabini continued "But since the last dark lord it has been converted to 'the house who cares about bloodlines' They only care about whether or not you are pureblood. You would not like it there."

"Thanks for the warning" Zia raised an eyebrow again "If you don't mind me asking; What house are you in?"

"Slytherin"

The two boys looked at each other for a moment before they suddenly started laughing. After that the conversation turned to lighter subjects. The tension between Zabini and the other tree had disappeared and they all joined in an easy banter. After a while Zia returned to his book explaining that he still had to catch up a bit on his transfiguration theory and the other students followed his example taking out books of their own.

oOoOo

The rhythmic sound from the rail was hypnotic and after an hour or so Zias eyelids had started to drop. He looked around the compartment and saw that only Hermione was still reading. The others were in different stages of falling asleep. It seemed that even the professor across from him had fallen asleep for real. He put away the book and stared out the window at the landscape flowing past. It seemed like it would not be so hard making friends after all. Besides Zabini whom he already knew the other three seemed nice enough. Neville had even offered to help him in herbology since he would need to catch up there. If the Malfoy boy was any indication they didn't exactly have a high status in school but then he had never cared about that. Now if he could just keep up with his other studies he would be quite satisfied. He wondered if the charms teacher would allow him to continue using Greek based spells. As he looked out the window he the landscape seemed to darken and he suddenly felt a bit cold. As he woke up from his musings he realized that the train was slowing. They could not be there already right?

As the train came to a complete stop the lights in the compartment went out. The others woke up and stared confused around. The chill in the air turned worse and as Zia felt a presence outside the door he realized what he was up against.

As the door slide open he whipped out his wand and said in a steady voice; "_istis__ 'ād" _

A blinding white light formed in front of him before it started to spread out in a soft wave. The presence disappeared as it fled from the light and soon the lights flickered back on. When he sat back down he realised that five pairs of eyes were staring intently at him. He smiled a little uncomfortable.

"What was that?" Hermione broke the silence. When it become obvious that no one else was going to answer the professor said

"That was a Dementor, one of the guards of the wizarding prison of Azkaban and a foul creature." The surprised look on the others face indicated that they had forgotten the professors presence. Zia was surprised for a whole different reason.

"Guard? You mean that the ministry actually _employ_ the creatures here? The same ministry that is so paranoid about dark magic that they don't even allow research on how to improve the _howering charm_ because it _might_ come to include studies that touch upon the etrusk system?"

The worn man nodded "It is stupid I know, but no one has ever accused our politicians of logic thought. However I am quite intrigued in the spell you used to drive the thing away. That was not the patronus charm." Zia blushed a bit. His father had _told _him to be careful and here he messed up the first day.

"Well, eh, we had a Lethifold problem back home so I learned the counter spell and it works on Dementors too. But, I eh, would appreciate it if you could forget which spell I used..." Zabinis eyes widened as he realized the reason for his reluctance.

"Just tell them, I doubt that any of them will run to the ministry."

Zia looked around the expectant faces and shrugged. "The spell is technically illegal in Britain as it is Farsi-based." The professor just looked at him.

"Ah, let's just say that you used a variation on the patronus then. Now I need to check on the rest of the students. Eat some chocolate it will help with the after effects." With that he disappeared out into the corridor leaving the compartment in an uncomfortable silence.

Blaise Zabini Sighed lightly, "I suppose that I should get back to my compartment. I don't want anyone to get worried after this ordeal"

Zia nodded shortly, "Give my greetings to Frona."

"I will" and with that the boy slipped out the door.

The door in question hardly had time to close before it was yanked open again. This time it was two boys wearing identical mischievous but worried expressions under their bright red hair. Zia smiled as he rapidly realized who they were. They immediately closed in on Ginny who, he realized was ratter bleak in the face. She must have some really horrid experiences in her past for the dementors to have such an effect on her from such a short exposure. That didn't fit very well with Bills stories. Zia could not help but wonder what had been left out. They immediately started talking, finishing each other's sentences trying to cheer their sister up. She on the other hand seemed a bit embarrassed and irritated about the whole treatment on top of still not looking really well from their run in with the Dementor. It was time to cut in.

"Unless you happen to have some chocolate somewhere on your persons you are not really helping you know." The boys turned towards him with inquiring faces.

"Oh, it seems that our dear little sister..."

"...has gotten herself another admirer."

"A rival for our dear Neville no less."

"About time too!"

"Every lady needs a few suitors..."

"...to battle for her honour."

"But no duelling at school mind you."

"You said it brother dear, it gets so messy with all the blood"

"So who is this most dashing young man who have caught our sisters eye?"

Zia chuckled lightly while Ginny blushed a little. They were just like Bill had said. Well she seemed to get some colour in her face at long last so they were finally doing something right.

"Mrss Fred and George I presume? Pranksters extraordinaire? The terror of every unsuspecting innocent in the place we call school?"

"Oy! I do believe that our dear sister.."

"..Have been carrying tales about us"

"To someone she has just met at that."

"You must have charmed her greatly indeed"

Now Ginny seemed to finally get her act together;

"Not me. You can blame Bill though. He seems to have told him all about me as well."

"Well can you really blame an older brother for being proud?" Zia interjected. "Besides it was the only way to get Sou to stop harassing him. Anyway, do you have any chocolate? I'm all out and it looks like she really needs it. It is the best cure for exposure to Dementors."

The twins seemed serious for a moment looked at each other. Then one of them nodded at the other who took out a bar of chocolate from his pocket and gave it to Ginny who reluctantly began to eat. Meanwhile her brothers claimed the two free seats, by happenstance just beside and across from Zia and looked at him curiously.

"And who is our resident expert on dark creatures and from where does he know our illustrious brother?" Well, aren't they protective? It was a rather humorous situation. At least it would do for now and he really needed to think positively so soon after the Dementor. So Zia just sat there smiling at the more and more agitated brothers.

Ginny stared at the spectacle of her brothers failing to intimate the strange boy for a while before she smiled. She had been expecting another miserable year but somehow the new transfer student had made her forget about her problems for a while. For some strange reason it was impossible not to relax in his presence. And after he easily humiliated Malfoy... well he did have some help from that other slytherin boy, but still. Already her year was looking a lot better than the last. Well, it was not like it could be worse but still. Her parents had told her that this year was going to be better but she could tell that they had been worried and tried to reassure themselves as much as her. Somehow she could not make herself believe that her life could be fun and carefree again. Until now. All thanks to a strange boy and a happenstance meeting on the train. She looked a bit closer at the boy. Despite her brothers teasing he looked remarkably normal. There was really nothing special about him. He was well shorter than average for a boy his age though not as short as she. He had unkempt black hair and a golden tanned skin. His ears stood out a little too much, his nose was just too large for his face and his eyes... well they were disturbing. His irises were pitch black, so dark indeed that you could not distinguish the pupils, making it very hard to see what he was looking at. Despite this he held himself with a reserved, confident calm and had a catching smile that made it very hard not to relax in his company and just enjoy yourself. He was easy to talk to and even when he was quiet it was a comfortable silence. Something about him said that this was a boy who did not judge her. And that was a rare thing indeed these days. And yet there was something... sad about him. It was a puzzle.  
Well, it was time to save her new acquaintance from her overprotective brothers.

"He is Zia Esfahani, if you had read the letters Bill sent us the last few years or just listened to his stories instead of planning how to prank him during our visit this summer, you should know about him", she looked at him curiously, "but who is Sou? I can't remember him mentioning anyone like that."

The dark boy chuckled at that, "You men he didn't?" There was something disturbing about his grin now. "Souzan is my cousin, and your biggest fan."

Ginny choked a little at that. "What was that supposed to mean?" Now he was grinning broadly, never letting go of her with his eyes.

"Well you see, she is the kid in the family with three older brothers. A couple of years ago she got really mad at them for being mean to her. I think they were mostly ignoring her but she got upset enough to run away from home. And where would an eight year old girl run to if not her dear cousin? She showed up one weekend crying and refusing to go home so Bill who was visiting at the time tried to cheer her up. He told her a story about how _his_ baby sister used to get back at her brothers after a prank. She was enthralled! I think she kept Bill talking about you for hours that first time and ever since she shows up every time he is in the vicinity demanding he tells her more." Zia looked at her for a moment. "I don't think he minds really. It seems to help him from getting homesick. Anyway, since then you are her household hero and she tries to be like you as much as possible."

Ginny hardly knew where to look. She hadn't expected this! Damn Bill! She paused for a moment; it was a long time since she had last thought bad things about her favourite brother. Now the whole compartment was staring at her. And the damn boy just would not shut up.

"You know, I think the worst thing was that time she coloured her hair red. It took us _ages_ to convince her that it didn't suit her. It was horrible how it clashed with her complexion." Complexion! Shit she must be blushing like the _sun_! The chuckles from around started to get louder.

"But that was an exception, in general it has been very good for her to have a role model to follow. Don't expect her brothers to thank you if they ever meet you though. They haven't been safe in their own home ever since. She has really gotten imaginative in her pranks you know. I'm just grateful that as her favourite cousin she considers me a resource and not a target..."

Finally the laughter from her brothers had gotten so loud that he had to stop. Not that it wasn't too late already. Even _Neville_, the shyest boy at Hogwarts was laughing at her. Damn every gossiping brother and chatty transfer student!

After the laughter had died down and everyone had dried their tears Fred (or maybe George) said mournfully;

"Brother dear, I think we have been bested."

"Indeed, I have never seen Ginny get pranked like that"

"And Bill did it from halfway across the world at that."

"This is a challenge!"

"A challenge indeed"

As one they turned towards Zia "Good one eh? We'll get back to you" And with determined faces they stormed out of the compartment. Zia and Neville started laughing again, Hermione looked a bit affronted but had problem hiding a smile while Ginny still had not gotten her blush under control. Finally Hermione took pity on her.

"Ginny, you haven't told us about your trip to Egypt yet?" Relived to have something to take her mind of the embarrassing topics Ginny was happy to tell them about her summer. Zia sat in his corner smiling and sometimes adding his bit to the story when she didn't know something Hermione asked. He had obviously been to Egypt at some time as well. The rest of the trip was rather agreeable with plenty of small talk, but Ginny saw Hermione study the new student when she thought he wasn't looking now and then. Hmmm, she obviously had a new puzzle. Wonder what it is.

oOoOo

When the train reached Hogsmeade station without further mishaps they separated. Zia had to go with the first years to get sorted while the others went with the carriages. Neville, Hermione and Ginny got lucky and had a carriage for themselves so they could freely chat away on the way talking about the boy they had met on the train.

The object of their conversation sat in the boat with two other transfer students as it slid silently through the dark waters. They were silent. No doubt they were all thinking the same thing. He looked at the others, Frona, a fourth year girl whom he had met from time to time but did not really know, and Dirar, a muggleborn Syrian boy in his year that he had helped tutoring at the hospital the last months as they were both recovering from their wounds. Zia was not very close to any of them even if their relationships were friendly enough. He turned to look ahead again. For some reason he felt more uneasy than he could remember being before. It was not until they rounded a small peninsula and the castle came into view that it hit home. Exile... This was to be his home, his school, and his prison for the next few years... He knew that it was irrational to think that way but he could not help it. He was used to travel with his father but he had never before visited such an isolated place at the edge of the world. He felt cold and abandoned not to mention that he had memories from the last time he was in England and they were not happy ones. He had hidden it by the joking and bantering on the train but out here on the dark and silent lake he could no longer ignore it. No matter that it was a crisis and that he had to do his part. It would not be fair for him to use his name and demand entrance to a better school. Every decent school in the world was filled to the brim and if he forced himself in he would force someone else out. It was logical that he should be the one to go here even if the education was subpar. He knew the language and he was used to self study. He could handle this better than most, and as an Achaemenēs it was his duty to think of others first. Yet he could not help but to feel a chill as they entered the cave to the dock below the castle.  
It was not long before he found himself in what he was informed was the antechamber to the great hall with the nervous first years and the other transfer students listening to the deputy headmistress explain the sorting. As she led the first years into the great hall leaving the five foreigners alone he began to seriously contemplate the so called 'houses' for the first time. Zabini had warned him off from Slytherin and he would probably do well to heed that warning. The boy had no reason to keep him out of his own house unless the warning was based in truth. He had heard about this blood issue but had never encountered anyone who took it seriously before. If it was such a big deal as Zabini indicated he would not be well received in that house. He was not one to put himself forward but neither was he used to keep his opinions to himself. He had no patience for foolish prejudices. Zabini had called him a Ravenclaw, according to the deputy they valued intelligence and with his studious nature that might fit well enough but he was not ready to ignore the other houses just yet...  
As the deputy returned and they followed her into the great hall he cast a thought at the other students he had met at the train. They were Gryffindors, but he had rarely met someone so focused on studying as Hermoine Granger and if Neville Longbottom was an example of bravery perhaps the houses were not as stereotypical as people claimed. He took some comfort in that thought; it was ridiculous really to sort people according to their primary abilities. After all, true excellence was reached by the meeting of different opinions and values.

oOoOo

Every eye in the great hall followed the five transfer students into the hall and the whispers were rather loud. Not surprisingly really, most students at Hogwarts spent their entire schooling in close knitted groups for seven years and here came new people who would be expected to fit in among those groups. Everyone was discussing who they were and where they might be sorted.  
Remus Lupin followed them with as much curiosity as everyone else as they made their way to the front of the hall. He had not been aware of the new students when he entered the Hogwarts express that morning but he had been intrigued by the intelligent boy with the black eyes that drove away the Dementors. If he was representative for the new students this might be an interesting year as they were likely to upset accepted truths of long standing. Unlike the first years the Transfer students were not sorted by alphabetical order but by their year. The whispers died down as the first fifth year student stepped up to get sorted but slowly started up again when the hat did not immediately announced a house. Normally a sorting goes rather quickly with the majority taking less than a minute while only one out of over a hundred student pass five minutes. Thus it was surprising when the first transfer student took almost fifteen minutes to get sorted into Ravenclaw. It was shocking when the second fifth year took even longer to get sorted into the same house. When the sole fourth year and only girl among them took close to half an hour to end up in Slytherin the rest of the students started grumbling. Most had not eaten anything but snacks since breakfast after all. The other teachers had started to exchange glances, wondering what was going on. Lupin heard Flitwick, the charms professor mention that the all time record for a sorting was 34 minutes and had stood strong since 1687. The last time a sorting crossed 15 minutes was close to a hundred years ago. Thus when Esfahani, Zia stepped up as the first third year it came almost as a surprise when he took less than two minutes to get sorted into Gryffindor. Lupin was more surprised than most as he had been sure that the boy would end up in Ravenclaw. The final boy, a third year, once again had the students grumbling when he after 48 minutes and 12 seconds (Flitwick timed it) walked over to the Hufflepuff table. It was obviously with great relief that they impatiently listened to Professor Dumbledore when he announced the feast with as few words as possible.

It was rather late when he joined the other professors in the headmasters' office to discuss the day's events and do the final adjustments for the coming term. There were only a few things on the agenda; Possible problems with the students that they have to be informed of, the incident with the Dementors on the train and finally the transfer students. The first point was quickly handled, just a few first years with medical problems that had to be addressed and a note to keep an eye on Ginny Weasly to make sure that she was over the problems from last year. Lupin made a mental note to find out more about that later. As the other professors seemed to know what it was about he saw no reason to have the headmaster explain it to him right now and keep them up even later. Like he expected there were a lot of complaints and outrage about the Dementors but there was not much that they could do about it. They were suitable impressed however when he told them about the student who drove away the Dementor with a 'variation of the patronus charm'. Dumbledore especially lit up at the story.

"Oh, I must say that I'm positively surprised. I had not thought that any of our last few defence professors were able to cast the patronus, much less teach it." It was difficult for Lupin to shatter that illusion. If his eyes just didn't twinkle so happily at the thought that his professors had not been so incompetent after all...

"I'm afraid that I can't say that they could since it was one of the transfer students who did it. The third year that was sorted into Gryffindor." This _really_ caught their attention.

"A third year cast the patronus?" He had not seen Professor McGonagall look so shocked since that time Sirius... No he would not think about that. It hurt too much.

"Yes, or as I said; a variation of it. He claimed that it is easier to cast and has some limitations but it did the job. He said he learned it as a countercharm against lethifolds."

Dumbledore looked somewhat disappointed at learning that it was not a Hogwarts student that had managed the feat. Or at least, had not been previously. The transfer students were all Hogwarts students now he supposed.

"Well, if we move along to the last item on the agenda then." The old man picked up a small pile of papers. "Those same transfer students. As they are in a new environment without many friends among people who have known each other for years they might need some extra attention. They come from a different school system and might have problems to adjust academically as well. Most of the records from their old school were destroyed in the disaster so we know very little about them. I have received a short file on each of them based on what the surviving teachers could remember and their final notes of each year. If there are any surviving records on the student it is also included as well as their medical file but all in all it tells us disappointingly little. I have removed them from classes until Monday so we have a few days to see what extra help they might need as well as give them an opportunity to choose their optional classes. I have booked time tomorrow so I can meet them individually together with their head of house. Still we should look through their files so we got an idea of what we can except before we meet them and I thought that the rest of the faculty should be aware of any potentional problems as well. If we start with our new Gryffindor as we were already talking about him."

After this rather long speech the headmaster looked around the table at them as if to ask for permission before continuing. " Young Mr. Esfahani is of Persian origin. He got the top grades for his year back in Baghdad even if one of his professors noted that he seemed to be better at theory than practice. He got severely burnt during the destruction of the school and is still not fully healed. The magical hospital of Esfahan sent detailed instructions of his treatment which is to be continued for several months and they insist on doing their own checkups once a month. I will pass the medical file to you after the meeting Poppy." The mediwitch nodded. "He was also one of sixteen students out of the little more than six thousand survivors who received special awards for unselfish acts in helping fellow students during the disaster. There are no further details about what he did. Any comments?"

Snape sneered dismissively. "Sounds like the typical little Gryffindor."

McGonagall sniffed a little at that "You make it sound like a bad thing."

Lupin was about to open his mouth when he saw Dumbledore cover his eyes and mutter "Children, please..." under his breath. The argument was evidently a common occurrence between the two heads.

"Hmm..." Flitwick inserted. "If I remember correctly the name Esfahani would indicate that he is muggleborn."

"How so?" Dumbledore sounded interested. "Persian muggles didn't start using surnames until relatively recently and Esfahani is one of the names that were introduced when they had to get one by law. It means that in the last few generations his family were muggle middleclass in Esfahan. If he were pureblood he would go by one of the old clan names." This made Lupin remember the conversation he had overheard on the train.

"I don't think so." Flitwick looked inquiringly at him. "I shared a compartment with him on the train. I talked to him for a bit and could not help but overhear his conversation with the other students." He smiled at the diminutive professor. "He gave me the impression of a typical Ravenclaw. I was most surprised when he was sorted into my old house. But to continue; he apparently knew a few Hogwarts students from before and one of them, one Mr. Zabini, mentioned that they had met at the Olympic moot. I don't think that a muggleborn third year would get in there." Some of the professors seemed a bit shocked at this.

"Oh, and he had managed to find an unrestricted book on the animagus transformation that he was reading on the train." He added with a smile towards his old head of house. This once again caused some interest but there was not much more to be said and they moved on to the next student. The Hufflepuff third year, Dirar Olikara, was a good but not excellent student and besides another medical file they knew nothing more about him. Next; the fourth year girl, Frona Papadiamantopoulou had also been the top student of her year and came from an old Greek pureblood family. She had no medical file and was otherwise an unknown. The two fifth year Ravenclaws had more extensive files since for some reason the fifth years files had been in the headmasters office the night of the attacks and had thus survived. Besides more extensive academic records they contained little of importance however. One of them had been lightly wounded but was completely healed. Due to the late hour the normal small talk after a staff meeting was cut short and they all went their way.

oOoOo

**AN/** So here comes my comments on chapter two;  
If anyone missed the hint (I mean it was sooo subtle) Yes Zia is Harry Potter. I put some thought into the name. Or rather I considered how he and his new father would be likely to have thought:  
Zia means light and by my interpretation Morteza Zia would mean Chosen of the light. (As I don't speak Farsi I cannot claim that it is grammatically correct. It comes from a homepage about the meaning of Persian names) It is an obvious reference to his miraculous survival as an infant as they don't know about the prophecy. FarjAd means 'Excellent in learning' and would appeal to his studious foster father. Hari is a version of Harry and is the only part of his original name that he kept. I have no idea if it a realistic translation but in Farsi I have found several different meanings; حری _ḥ__arī,_ 'Worthy', 'fit', هاری _hārī,_ 'A doer of every kind of dirty work, a sweeper' or هری _harī,_ 'A field watered by the rain', I also found a reference where it could possibly mean 'morning clouds' but it is a little uncertain. I could find all meanings to fit in one way or another, unless someone who understands Farsi properly correct me I will probably chose one meaning and stick with it. Oh, and the part where Zia and Zabini discuss chosen names will be explained in a coming chapter.  
I will use words from respectively language as spells from other magical system than the Latin based one.  
_"istis__ 'ād" _is_ Farsi _and have a double meaning that signifies both 'desiring happiness' and 'asking assistance' I thought it fitting for a variation of the Patronus spell. I plan to give further insight into Farsi based light spells that can counter the Dementors. There are three more and it is really they who are the originals and the patronus who is the copy. That is why the patronus is so much harder to cast. It is trying to reproduce the effect from another system of magic.  
Frona is a greek name meaning 'strong in mind' Dirar is an Arabian name. Papadiamantopoulou and Olikara are Greek and Syrian surnames respectively. No special meaning except that I can't help but smile every time I think of Snape or Dumbledore tries to twist their tongues around 'miss Papadiamantopoulou' in daily speech. It was the longest greek name that I could find in a quick search.

I am sorry if I disappointed anyone by putting Zia in Gryffindor after building up his image as a typical Ravenclaw. However I have planned quite a bit of interaction with major canon characters and it would be more difficult to pull off if he were in a different house. Besides, this way I don't have to put so much time on side characters without any role to play in the plot. I think that I made a decent cause for the logic behind his sorting though. Oh, and I have gotten a bit irritated by all the fanfics where his sorting takes so exceptionally long time so I thought that some variation was due. I have an explanation for the long sorting of the other students later on. It won't show up for some time though. Have patience if it is important for you.

Oh, and please don't hesitate to **review**. I am a bit uncertain abou how some of the dialoge ended up and I really need feedback.


End file.
